Retirement
by Dita Liebely
Summary: Meia and Misty retire from the pirate business and decide to live happily together. Misty decides it was time to admit her love to Meia. But someone else is going to disrupt their plans and intends to use Meia for their purposes. Meia/Misty pairing


The news of Meia deciding to quit being a pirate to join the Mejeran military was met with a mixture of shock and surprise.  
  
Several women were gossiping about Meia's resignation and departure in the mess hall.  
  
"I knew Meia was acting strange but why would she leave us?" asked a female Dread pilot who had been working with Meia for years.  
  
"When did Meia start acting strange?" inquired a woman who worked in Gascogne's depot.  
  
"Since she killed a dozen guys during our raid on a Talark military base." answered Celtic  
  
"And Boss was furious with Meia's cold-blooded attitude. She told us we weren't supposed to kill anyone except necessary." added an engineer who worked with Parfeit.  
  
"To make things worse, we not only lost one crewmember but also an other crewmember as well." Amarone said.  
  
"Yeah, The other girl's name was Misty, right?"  
  
"Right. I can't believe Misty quit too and joined Meia. I heard they were awfully close. I have a feeling Misty is Meia's lover." Celtic commented.  
  
BC walked into the mess hall and frightened the others by bellowing at them.  
  
"Enough of this talk. Now our best Dread pilot is gone, I suggest you cease talking!" BC ordered.  
  
"Y-y-yes, ma'am." Everyone responded.  
  
Elsewhere in space on the Mejerran ship _Victory_  
  
Meia found herself wearing the military uniform in the captain's office after she was transported to the ship from Mejer. Captain of this Mejerran ship named Rayno who was a gray-haired, medium height woman in 40's but she looked and acted stern and serious. Rayno was a far cry from being frail. Misty was excluded from Meia's meeting because it required only the blue- haired pilot's attention and she valued the importance of not including Misty in a top-priority mission debriefing.  
  
"Lt. Gisborn, I understand that you were acquainted with the pirates?" Captain Rayno asked  
  
"Yes, Captain." Meia confirmed.  
  
"And you are their best pilot." Rayno added.  
  
"I was, ma'am." Meia politely corrected.  
  
"I was the last woman to use you since I am aware of your criminal record. But the Mejerran council thinks otherwise. They are more interested in your talents. They saw potential in you which they told me to exploit in the name of Mejer." Rayno said. "Enough with the talk. I am giving you a mission."  
  
"My orders?" Meia asked.  
  
"Your orders are to lead a Dread squadron to attack a Talark supply ship and steal the cargo. You know that the cargo are the newly developed chemical weapons." Rayno instructed.  
  
Rayno showed her a paper which she pulled from her pocket.  
  
"Is this the map outline of the Talark cargo ship's interior?"  
  
"That is correct, Lieutenant Gisborn. You see the cargo bay number three?" Rayno asked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"That's where you will collect the cargo." Rayno continued.  
  
"We will set course for Talark territory and you will wait in the hangar for our signal. Lieutenant, make sure you will not fail." Rayno finished.  
  
"Yes, ma'am." Meia replied with a salute.  
  
Meia walked out of the captain's office and was about to head for the hangar when Misty called her.  
  
"Yes, Misty?"  
  
"Where are you going? Tell me what's your mission?" Misty eagerly asked.  
  
"I wish I could fill you in but my orders are secret." Meia assured her.  
  
"Oh, I understand. Good luck, Meia." Misty said.  
  
"Why don't you go to the bridge with the captain?"  
  
"And do what? To observe?"  
  
"Yes, you're here because I wanted you to be here. Don't worry, Captain Rayno will tell you about our mission when we reach Talark space."  
  
Meia waved Misty a farewell wave and proceeded to the hangar.  
  
"Are you ready, soldiers?" Meia demanded of her women.  
  
They responded that they have already prepared for their mission.  
  
"Good. Let's go" Meia ordered.  
  
When the flaghship Victory approached the Talark space, Meia and her squadron went out of the flagship's hangar on the captain's command and started attacking the Talark ship. The Dreads were backed by the ship Victory.  
  
Meia and a dozen of her Dread pilots already penetrated the hull of the Talark ship while wearing spacesuits.  
  
"Captain Rayno showed me a map outline of the ship so I knew where the cargo bay is. Follow me." Meia ordered. She started to wander around the ship looking for the cargo.  
  
Meia successfully shot down any man who got in her way as she led the way and the women followed her.  
  
Meia finally found and rushed through the cargo bay doors past the two dead sentries whom she killed.  
  
"Pick up as many as you can. We've no time to waste before they send reinforcements." Meia ordered.  
  
Meia spotted some shadows when she followed her pilots carrying the cargo out of the cargo bay.  
  
"Go ahead. I'll cover you." bellowed Meia.  
  
"Yes, Squad leader." responded her second-in-command  
  
As the five soldiers approached Meia and opened fire, Meia fired two shots at the men. One of them was unlucky and he got hit.  
  
The men returned fire vigilantly.  
  
Meia took cover behind the wall. Meia got two more at point blank range.  
  
The two remaining men held their rilfes and kept firing.  
  
Meia finished one man with a shot to his head. Then she wounded the soldier by shooting his rifle arm.  
  
Meia went to see the wounded man. The survivor is a slim fifty-year old male with short-cropped jet black hair. Meia recognized the insignia on his uniform. She realized he was the captain. However, Meia was more surprised by the face of the man whom she saw before.  
  
"Captain Duncan, the butcherer of Kulor." Meia said.  
  
"So it is you, Meia Gisborn. The rumors were true that you quit the pirate business." Duncan hissed.  
  
"I've not seen you since your last attack on my former pirate friends." Meia sighed. "I remember you killed many of my good pilots. And you also recklessly attacked Mejerran colony on Kulor, one of its moons several months ago and slaughtered two hundred innocent civilians. You were on the top of Mejer's wanted list."  
  
The male captain ignored Meia's statement.  
  
"Go kill me, you witch. I'm not afraid to die." Duncan said.  
  
Meia fired a shot at the captain who quickly closed his eyes but when he opened his eyes again, he was surprised to learn that he lived. The shot must have missed him on purpose.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"To spare your life so you could live in humiliation for your defeat. Even death is too good for you. But to be defeated by a woman and not dead couldn't be better shame for a man." Meia said.  
  
Meia whirled around and saw her second-in-command standing here gaping at the sight.  
  
"You're letting the butcherer live?" the second-in-command complained loudly.  
  
"Come with me." Meia said.  
  
"No. I want to kill this scum."  
  
Meia pointed her gun at her own second-in-command.  
  
"Forget it."  
  
"Yes, Squad leader." She croaked.  
  
Meia and the other female started to walk. One of them was still upset with Meia's decision but soon she intended to make sure the captain would have heard about it.  
  
One hour after the _Victory_ returned to Mejerran space.  
  
Rayno became enraged after the Dread pilot informed her of what transpired in the ship so she summoned Meia to report to her office.  
  
"Lieutenant Meia Gisborn reporting for duty." Meia reported.  
  


"Are you out of your mind, Gisborn?" Rayno screamed.

"Possibly" Meia replied casually.

  
"You raided the men's ship, took the cargo but didn't kill Captain Duncan." Rayno angrily rasped.  
  
"Killing Captain Duncan wasn't part of my orders, ma'am. I saw no need to overstep my bounds." Meia explained.  
  
"I see. To whom do your loyalties lie, Lieutenant?" Rayno demanded.  
  
"To the Mejerran military."  
  
"We'll test it."  
  
Rayno ordered Meia to come with her. Then Meia followed her to the brig where Misty was held in chains.  
  
Misty was overjoyed at the sight of Meia entering the brig with Rayno and two other guards.  
  
"Meia. Thank goodness you're here. You must get me out of here, please." Misty begged.  
  
"On the contrary, little whelp." Rayno replied. Then she turned to Meia.  
  
"I should have killed you at the first opportunity, Gisborn but my superiors demanded that I must exploit your loyalties." Rayno said. "I'm going to give you a chance to prove your loyalty to us."  
  
"How may I prove it?" Meia asked.  
  
"Shoot her, Gisborn."  
  
"Wait! No, Meia! You can't listen to her. Please don't kill me, Meia." Misty sobbed.  
  
"Shoot her or kill her?" Meia asked.  
  
"Shoot to kill her. One in her head. Two in her chest."  
  
"Yes, captain." Meia said.  
  
Behind Rayno and her guards, Meia slowly pulled her gun out of the holster but she didn't aim it for Misty's head. She quickly whirled around and aimed her gun at the captain and the two guards and fired at them. A moment later, the three women lay dead.  
  
"You saved me. I knew you would." Misty said.  
  
But Meia didn't respond to Misty's thanks. Meia whispered "Good-bye, Misty."  
  
Before Misty could react, Meia put her gun into her mouth and pulled the trigger.  
  


BLAM.

  
Meia lay dead on the floor as she killed herself on the spot to Misty's horror.  
  
=================================  
  
It took Meia several minutes to claw up the way out of her grave.  
  
"It's not exactly the afterlife I expected." Meia coughed  
  
Meia heard a familiar voice greeting her and craned her neck up to see her mother with her legs tied together floating in air.  
  
"Why am I not dead?" Meia complained  
  
"You know the answer, daughter." Meia's mother replied  
  
"No." Meia growled  
  
"No?"  
  
"No. Clawing my way out of the grave isn't the answer." Meia said as she pointed her pistol at her mother.  
  
"You know it is a solid weapon. It cannot harm a spirit." She laughed. "You must see that everyone follows his or her destiny because they must. Your fate was ordained--- urrrrkk"  
  
Meia slammed her pistol into his face.. Meia's mother fell to the ground.  
  
"Were you saying? Good. Now listen. I spend years wallowing in self-pity and hiding it from the people I meet. I always wanted to be as strong as you." Meia said.  
  
"Are you watching me in battle? Does it amuse you to see me catering to my inferiors' whims? You really enjoy watching me struggling with my own weakness? Am I made for you amusement? Did you have fun at my expense?" Meia continued.  
  
Meia pounded her fists into her mother.  
  
"Is that what you wanted? IS THAT IT?" Meia yelled, pummeling her fists onto Meia's mother.  
  
"Meia...I don't want to hurt you." Meia's mother pleaded  
  
"Good. There are plenty of proverbs. 'No pain. No gain.' 'Father, why hast thou forsaken me' 'If it aint broke, don't fix it.'" Meia said.  
  
"But there is one proverb that applies to this. 'You hurt the one you love the most.'" Meia finished "Mom, I love you a lot.." Meia shot three times in her mother's chest.  
  
Meia walked away from her "mother" until she saw a long brown-haired bearded man in white loincloth approaching her.  
  
"Are you the one who made me insane?"  
  
"Yes, Meia Gisborn. Does it displease you?"  
  
"No. I really had a lot of fun." Meia replied truthfully.  
  
"That is good."  
  
"Why did you do it for me?"  
  
"Because I'm like you."  
  
"How so?" Meia retorted.  
  
"My father rejected me because I wasn't good enough to be him." The stranger answered. "He forsook me"  
  
"Who is your father?"  
  
"My father is God."  
  
"And who are you?." Meia muttered  
  
"I am Jesus Christ, son of God."  
  
"Why did you do it?"  
  
"Because I need your help, Meia."  
  
"Against your father?" Meia guessed.  
  
"Yes. I'm staging a rebellion very soon."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"He forsook me for a mortal." Jesus replied  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Mohammad" Jesus clarified. "Mohammad was the last prophet of God and founder of Islam, the world's second largest religion. He came after my time but he was more successful to bringing the world closer to God than me. Father was so pleased with Mohammad's efforts that He chose Mohammad over me."  
  
"Islam? Aren't Islam and Christianity different?"  
  
"Actually yes, the Christians and Muslims have different practices but they believe in the same god as the Jews do. Jews refer to Father as Yahweh. Christians refer to Him as God. Muslims refer to him as Allah, which means "The God" in Arabic. "  
  
"How long have you been brooding over God's rejection of you, Jesus?"  
  
"For two millennia."  
  
"And then what are you exactly planning to?"  
  
"To kill my father and replace him." Jesus answered. "That is what you will help me do. Are you in, Meia?"  
  
Meia's only response was a wicked smile.  
  
"I'm in but I don't think I can do it alone. "  
  
"I know. I secretly spent centuries recruiting the dissident angels. I have assembled a large rebel army ready to take over Heaven"  
  
"Good. What are we waiting for, Jesus?"  
  
ten minutes later, Jesus Christ, Meia and their rebel angels stormed into the Heavens and started fighting the loyal angels of God.  
  
A savage Meia destroyed every angel who got in her way until she saw a middle-eastern man with dark hair and long beard.  
  
"I am Mohammad, the greatest prophet of God. Who dares attack God?" The man demanded  
  
"I do." Jesus responded  
  
"You? I should have known you wanted to rebel against your Father since he forsook you, Jesus."" Mohammad roared.  
  
"God is not my father anymore. And you will no longer live" Jesus bellowed.  
  
Jesus jumped at Mohammad. The loyal angels are too busy fighting the rebel angels plus Meia to aid the totally helpless Mohammad.  
  
Jesus squeezed Mohammad's throat tightly with his bare hands until Mohammad died.  
  
"Jesus, Mohammad is dead." Meia observed.  
  
"And I couldn't be more pleased." Jesus said with self-satisfaction.  
  
"Then it is over?"  
  
"Not yet. The only thing that will please me even more is God's death." Jesus proclaimed.  
  
"Shall we storm God's throne in the Heavens, Jesus?" Meia asked.  
  
"Yes. Move onward, my angels. Charge!" Jesus roared.  
  
Jesus and Meia fought their way through the angelic army to find a man sitting on his throne trembling in fear.  
  
The man was glowing golden like a sun but he had human features such as beard and long hair.  
  
"Is that glowing guy God?"  
  
"Yes, Meia but not anymore." Jesus answered.  
  
"Go ahead and end my life right now" God said.  
  
"Don't you fear death, God?" Meia asked.  
  
"How can I fear death when I have lived for billions of years? I have been watching the entire universe and grew tired of it. Besides the destiny is written in blood" God replied.  
  
"Destiny?"  
  
"Yes, Meia Gisborn. Hasn't Jesus forgotten that I am the All-knowing One? I have been aware of my son's rebellion from the start."  
  
"And you allowed this to occur?" Meia exclaimed.  
  
"Of course. I have been expecting you all along." God smiled.  
  
"Meia?" Jesus asked.  
  
"With pleasure." Meia responded as she pointed her gun at the sobbing God and shot a bullet into God's head.  
  
God's brain exploded as it was in contact with the bullet.  
  
"God is really dead." One of Jesus's angels shouted.  
  
"Hooray." Another angel cheered  
  
"God is dead. Long live Jesus Christ." Another angel cried.  
  
The other angels repeated the previous angel's words.  
  
"Are you satisfied, Jesus?" Meia asked  
  
"I wish" Jesus replied  
  
"Why not? You have everything you want"  
  
"Yes but if so, then why aren't I happy?"  
  
"Don't you want to replace your father as you said?" Meia suggested  
  
"Yes, Meia. That is a good idea but how do I replace God?"  
  
Meia pressed her gun against Jesus' right temple. Then she tightened her finger on the trigger.  
  
BANG.  
  
Jesus exploded brightly before everyone's eyes. When the light faded, the angels were surprised to see God instead of Jesus Christ.  
  
"But where is Jesus Christ? How did God return to life? What happened" An angel asked in disbelief.  
  
"That WAS Jesus Christ." Meia concluded  
  
"What?" Another angel asked  
  
"Ironically Jesus Christ killed the father only to become the father." Meia remarked.  
  
"Oh yes. I can see everything. I know everything. I can feel the universe around me. I am Time. I am the beginning. I am the end. I am God" Jesus- transformed into God said.  
  
"Can you return me to Nirvana?" Meia requested.


End file.
